The Meaning of Evil
by Stargirl7
Summary: Ok, so what if Slade wrote an essay about what it means to be Evil, and what it means to be good? But no one published it until now, of course. Written from Slade's POV about some things that have happened to him. Oneshot story. Read and review, please!


**What it Means to be Evil**

**An essay by Slade Wilson**

Author's note: Ok, fellow readers, I got this really random inspiration for a one-shot recently. What if Slade wrote an essay, a rather good one, but it never got published? He submitted it to all the well known magazines, and every publishing house imaginable, but no one would take it. You gotta feel bad for him, even though he is a villain. Come on, there's bound to be an aspiring writer buried somewhere behind that façade of his…So this is pretty much him reminiscing on everything that's happened in his life up until this point(his marriage to Blackfire; this is taking place around the same time as "Coma"), and what it means, to him, to be evil…

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What does it mean to be "Evil"? And what does it necessarily mean to be "Good"? Is there a fine line between the two? Are they two clearly defined entities, or is there some point when they intermingle and are no longer distinguishable from each other? I have somehow learned, in my relatively meager existence as a member of the Human race, a citizen of the United States of America, and through my career as a supervillain, that each have their respective meanings to and for me, but there are no such things as "Good" and "Evil". There is only power, and those who choose to seek it. Not necessarily everything that we come upon in Life is clearly outlined in Black and White. In the following essay, you shall be subjugated to hear my opinion upon this subject…

Let's start by looking at "Evil" a little more in-depth, shall we? A straightforward definition of the word would be "The quality of being morally bad or wrong." Now, I ask you, is this definition correct in regards to this word? My opinion is that the definition is both entirely correct in regards to the word, and I shall give you some examples to prove my point.

One example of how the definition applies to me, would obviously be myself. I am a supervillain by trade, I will not deny it. I have inflicted pain and suffering upon numerous people, without so much as a care to how they happen to feel about it. I do have plans to take over the world, and I did manage to take control of the city that I live in, but was thwarted by my arch-nemeses, the Teen Titans, and betrayed by my apprentice at the time, Terra. This point proves the fact that I am most definitely "morally bad or wrong", both through my own actions and the Titans' and Terra's opinions of me. Another example of how this definition is correct in regards to me would be the fact that I have, on numerous occasions, attempted to have the Teen Titans annihilated. I am not necessarily sure as to why I have the intentions to kill them; perhaps it is because of the fact that they remind me of myself when I was their age, and the hopes and dreams that I had had before my world changed entirely. But nonetheless, the mere fact that I have the intentions to murder the Titans, someway, somehow, proves the fact that I am an evil person and not one to be trusted.

And yet, even though I am an "Evil" person, I have also done some relatively "Good" deeds in my life. For example, when I was around the age of ten years old, a young boy living in Gotham City with my mother and two younger brothers, our grandmother was sick in the hospital. Every day during the two months that she was there in the Intensive Care Unit ill with pneumonia(which she later died from), I would go to her apartment, give her cats food and water, fetch her mail for her, and many other household chores. I would also visit her at the hospital a couple times a week, letting her know all that happened to me at school, at home with my mother and brothers, and also what was going on in the city at the time. I did all of these "good deeds" because I loved my grandmother, and wanted to help her. Another example of a "good" deed that I have done would be when the world was destroyed by the Lord Trigon's ascension from Hell to Earth through his daughter, Raven, who was also a Teen Titan. Robin, the leader of the Titans, wished to go and find her, and since I knew where she was, I of course led him in her direction. The rest of the Titans, meanwhile, had to address the issue of Trigon and how to distract and/or defeat him. I gave the Tamaranean princess, Starfire (who is now my sister-in-law), a Ring of Azar, which helped protect her and her friends from harm. So, even though I am an "evil" person, I have done some good deeds in my time…

But what does it necessarily mean to _be _both good and evil? To be "good", one must be kind, considerate, helpful, moral, generous, and the many other qualities that make up a "good" person. To be "evil" is to be the exact opposite. Evil is selfish, cruel, immoral, inconsiderate, and many other unhappy traits that contribute to it. I am an evil person, there is no denying that, and yet I have done some good deeds. So does this mean that I am to be branded forever as an "evil" person, a villain? Or do my good deeds lessen the brand? In the end, I suppose one does not really know for sure. As I stated before, not everything that you may come across in Life is outlined in Black and White. Even an "evil" person can be seen as "good"…


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